


caution to the wind

by configurations



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 05:18:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6316165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/configurations/pseuds/configurations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patrick has no idea how these things happen to him, or him and Pete specifically. One moment he's fixing himself a bowl of cereal and the next moment a Pete and Patrick from another universe appear on the bus. The pair are pretty much identical to him and Pete as well, save for one small, tiny, minute detail.</p><p>The other Pete and Patrick are together. Like <em>together</em>-together. Tied the knot. Exchanged their vows. The whole nine yards. Which would be just fine and dandy if Patrick hadn't been secretly pining for <em>his</em> Pete for over a decade now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	caution to the wind

Patrick has honestly no idea how these things happen to him-- or him and Pete, specifically. One moment he's in the bus pantry fixing himself a bowl of cereal, Pete lounging on the nearby couch, and the next moment he's staring into blue eyes identical to his. He barely registers it at first, blinks once, then twice, and only when two voices that he knows all too well, both identical in pitch and tone go, "What the fuck?" does he then stumble backwards, gripping the countertop to steady himself. Only then does he really look, and he's staring at a body that's identical to his save for the outfit-- he's wearing a shirt and pajama pants, the other wearing jeans instead, and also at the tan figure next to him dressed in a muscle tank and skinny jeans, ink covering both his arms like a second skin.

Basically, he's staring at himself and Pete. Another Patrick and Pete. Patrick thinks that if his life was a comedy, if it hadn't been one already, this would be the part where he faints and the screen fades to black.

But he doesn't faint. Instead, he turns his gaze into a glare from the other Pete and Patrick to his Pete, for a lack of a better way to phrase it, and barks out a "What did you do, Wentz?" and again, two voices go "It wasn't me!" simultaneously. He hears him and his alter self groan.

So, the other Pete and Patrick-- Patrick's going to refer to them as Wentz and Stump instead to avoid confusion-- are from another universe. Wentz says that this has happened in their universe before with their Gabe and William and assures them that they'll be on their way in about two weeks, tops. Both universes' histories are pretty much exactly the same, save for one small, minute detail.

Wentz and Stump are together. Like, _together_ -together. Tied the knot. Exchanged their vows. The whole nine yards. A simple gold band rests on each of their respective fingers. Patrick doesn't freak out, per-se, instead sputters out an undignified _"What?"_ while Pete laughs away beside him, Wentz and Stump watching them with amused grins on their faces.

"Yeah," Stump says and shrugs, his hand coming to rest on Wentz's. The grin Wentz gives him is almost blinding. Patrick just stares. Wentz casts a pitiful glance at Pete. "Sorry dude, you're missing out. The sex is out of this fucking world." Which makes both Patrick and Stump turn bright red, Stump reaching over to slap the back of Wentz's neck as he laughs away. Patrick tries not to dwell on Pete's unreadable expression next to him and he prays to any higher power out there that the floor caves open and swallows him whole. The scary part is, save for the unrestrained touches and pecks on cheeks and necks, Wentz and Stump are entirely and wholly identical to him and his Pete. Stump stills snaps at Pete when he pesters him before begrudgingly giving in, Wentz still randomly quotes 80s movies at Stump to make him laugh, both of them still unable to watch any sort of show or movie without talking the whole way through. Patrick's not sure if that scares him-- how similar they are in every aspect except for the fact that the other Wentz and Stump are together, how the other him looks so much happier and softer around the edges, how Pete is more unrestrained with his touches and smiles, the way Patrick would find them sitting cross legged on the couch of the tour bus, smiles on their faces, Wentz chuckling softly into the crook of Stump's neck, Stump humming softly into Wentz's bleached-blonde hair. 

The crew mostly doesn't care at all when they broke the news to them on the third day after gathering everyone together at catering because-- Let's be real. Weirder things _has_ happened and will continue to happen on a FOB tour. Patrick thinks that he could grow wings and Pete could suddenly spit fire and it wouldn't phase them in the slightest. It makes him feel kinda proud, in a weird way. Joe just laughs when Patrick tells him the other Stump and Wentz are married before making increasingly lewd comments around Patrick. Patrick, in retaliation, replaces all of Joe's cereal on his and Andy's bus with vegan, gluten-free, sugar-free and fat-free corn flakes. Joe stops with the comments the day after. Andy just raises an eyebrow and double-bans Pete from coming onto his and Joe's bus, because if he has to deal with twice the amount of Pete Wentz Messes around his bus he swears he'll quit the band and murder everybody.

Patrick doesn't flip until the seventh day, though. He's found himself keeping a pretty good leash on his jealousy and temper before that. Wentz and Stump aren't particularly overtly affectionate when him and Pete are around, Patrick himself never really being that big on public displays of affection, something Stump from the other universe clearly shares, from the way he never initiated any kisses unless he thought that they were both alone(Patrick has walked onto one too many late-night make out sessions in the bus lounge). Patrick hasn't really talked to Pete about the whole fiasco, it feels too awkward and weird and makes Patrick's heart ache for something he can't have.

On the seventh day though, Pete, Stump and himself are shuffling around the communal area of the bus in various stages of awake. Patrick's making some bacon and eggs on the portable stovetop at the tiny kitchenette, Stump sat at a table reading the news, Pete digging through the fridge for some juice. Which is the moment Wentz shuffles in from the bunks to the kitchenette, rubbing his eyes, hair sticking up in every possible direction, and he--

And he--

He leans into where Patrick's stationed at the stovetop and loops his arms around Patrick's midsection, his whole body going limp against Patrick's body. He feels Wentz's breath on his neck like fire. Which is the moment Wentz leans in to kiss him on his cheek. Patrick has a split second to react where his body freezes and tenses up and he almost drops his spatula, when, as quick as he came, Wentz peels himself off Patrick and proclaims, "Wrong Patrick," before launching himself onto a very bemused Stump. He hears Pete, his Pete, say, "Your eggs are on fire," in an amused tone and Patrick curses and blames the heat in his cheeks from the flames and determinedly tries to avoid the two Petes for the rest of the day, all the while trying not to think about Wentz's lips on his neck like hot coal. Which is hard when they've got an 8 hour drive ahead of them and they're sharing a single bus. He snaps at anyone who bothers him in his bunk and distances himself away from his Pete. He tries not to think about how Pete looks more or less like a sad puppy when Patrick snaps and shoos him away, even after he tried bringing Patrick his favorite sandwich, knowing that Patrick hadn't eaten the whole day. Patrick mostly ignored him before feeling guilty towards the end of their long drive and offering Pete some freshly-microwaved hot pockets as an apology. He tries to quell the flutter in his stomach when Pete gently takes the plate, thanks him and tries to feed him one because really, it's been over ten years. Pete Wentz really shouldn't _still_ be making butterflies materialize in his stomach.

On the eighth day Patrick retracts all previous hatred of the Pete and Patrick from the alternate universe because he and Stump both realized that they could layer their vocals _in real time_. They excitedly lock themselves into the makeshift studio at the back room of the tour bus (AKA Garageband opened on Patrick's laptop and a very fancy microphone Patrick bought ages ago in front of them), and the best part of it was that he was doing it with himself which meant that Stump knew how to do it just _exactly the way he wanted it._ He never wanted them to leave if it meant that he and Stump could do this all day, everyday. They mostly kept to doing that, music and vocals and layering chord progressions in real time because they found out normal conversations were pretty boring when you're basically talking to yourself. Your Pete-Wentz-marrying, ring-wearing self. Which Patrick has tried his damnedest to ignore-- even when Stump's ring would gleam in the sunlight or when Stump would oh-so-carefully remove it and place it in his pocket when playing guitar. It made his throat catch and feel antsy all over.

 

It's 5pm and they're in Ohio getting prepped for the concert. Patrick's perched on some cinderblocks that doubled as chairs, playing Candycrush on his phone in an attempt to kill some time before soundcheck.

"Hey."

It's Wentz, Patrick instantly knows. The Pete from the other universe holds himself a bit lighter and his smile is that much easier. He settles down onto the makeshift seats next to Patrick.

"Hey man," He winces at how awkward that sounded. It was just Pete, goddamnit. A different Pete, but still.

"Can't wait till the show dude, you're gonna kill it like always." He grins at Patrick, the corners of his eyes crinkling not unlike the way the Pete of his universe's would, and Patrick feels warmth uncurling deep in his stomach and spreading across his chest. He blurts out the question before he can stop himself.

"How did the you and me, the other me get together?" he winces again, and steadfastly decides that the cracks on the ground are far more fascinating than the conversation at present. He wrings his hands. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, but I was just curious, y'know? It's like-- I mean, we're both-- Both pairs of us are like--"

"Exactly the same, right?" Pete's grin softens. "I know right, dude. It's fucking wack. It's kinda tripping me out a little." He laughs, but it sounds strained. "Um, me and my 'Rick got together after the hiatus. It was like mid-2013 and I dunno. I figured it was time for both of us to get our heads out of our asses. We tied the knot around the time AB/AP came out." Wentz smiles, wistful, and Patrick feels hot jealousy run through his veins before he sees how nervous Wentz is, the telltale Pete signs that he's grown so used to all present. His eyes flick back and forth between anything and everything, kicking up dust on the ground as he fiddles with a frayed end on his jeans. Wentz has a question for him, and Patrick's pretty sure he knows what he's going to ask. He prompts him anyway.

"You got a question, dude. C'mon, shoot."

Wentz sighs. "It's-- It's stupid, but you're probably already used to that since you know me," Wentz smiles at Patrick wryly. Patrick waits for him to continue. "I-- why didn't you and your Pete get together?" Wentz says, but it's hushed and fast. "It got me thinking like, maybe, y'know, maybe me and my Patrick weren't actually supposed to be together after all and he'll finally come to his senses after seeing the both of you from this universe and," he says in one breath. "It's like you said, we're almost exactly the same, right?" he smiles at Patrick then, a small sad smile that's a bit too rough around the edges which tells Patrick that Wentz has been mulling over this for a while now. Patrick instantly feels the need to pull Wentz into a tight embrace, to wipe that look of his face.

So he does.

"C'mere," Patrick whispers, opening his arms and pulling Wentz's lean frame into his softer, chubbier one. Wentz goes to rest his head on Patrick's chest, leaning into his touch, Patrick wrapping both arms around Pete, his nose buried into the crook of Pete's neck. After a moment, then two, Patrick finally pulls them apart. He gently grabs Wentz by the shoulders. "Pete," he says. "If it's one thing I know about the other, it's that he's crazy head-over-heels in love with you, dude. Don't doubt that for a second. I mean, I'm him, after all. I see the way he-- he looks at you and it makes me embarrassed he's so in love with you." Pete just stares at him, like he can't believe it. Patrick presses on.

"And if, if he ever did anything to make you feel like, like you weren't loved, or whatever," Patrick feels his cheeks heat. God what is this C-rank romance movie bullshit. He is such a sap. But he would kill himself, his other self, that is, if he made his Pete feel like he didn't want him or whatever-- especially in a universe where _Pete Wentz is actually crazy enough to date_ and _marry Patrick Stump._ Patrick makes a mental note to talk to Stump later. He swallows. "Then he doesn't deserve you. He, I--" Patrick gets cut off by blocky hands ever so gently curling at his jaw, fingers softly digging into the hair at the nape of his neck. He freezes, tenses up and feels his heart hammering at a hundred miles an hour in his chest.

And Wentz leans in and kisses Patrick on his lips and Patrick's words die in his throat. Patrick lets himself lean in.

When Wentz pulls away, he chuckles softly. "I can't believe that the other me is so oblivious."

Patrick grimaces, tries to ignore the tirade of _Pete kissed me Pete's lips Pete Pete_ going on in his brain because _A) It's not his Pete._ And _B) It's not his Pete._ And _C) Holy shit Pete's lips are softer than they look, the chapstick must really work_ and ok, shutting up now. "Am I really that obvious?" he manages. To his credit, Wentz only smiles in response and gives him a hearty pat on the shoulder.

"But for real though, if the me in this universe is stupid enough not to, y'know," Wentz gestures vaguely between the small space between them. "Then he doesn't deserve you-- I mean I kind of don't deserve you, pretty much, but the Pete here extra-doesn't deserve you if he hasn't gotten his head out of his ass yet. I wanna take you back home with me and my Patrick and love the both of you and be happy forever, dude."

Patrick rolls his eyes, cheeks heating slightly before shaking his head and taking one of Pete's hands into his own. "Wentz-- Pete," he says. "Don't say that, man. You really deserve more than a nerdy sweaty chubby dude who's probably way too into like, Bowie and Star Wars."

Wentz just stares at him, mouth agape."Un-fuckin'-believable, dude."

"What?"

"Even in this universe you are as self-deprecating as ever. What the hell."

Patrick shrugs. "It's the truth, man."

"I can't believe this. I'm having deja-vu. You, Patrick Martin Stumph," He grabs both of Patrick's hands into his. "Deserve the fuckin' world and _more,_ dude. End of conversation. I don't wanna hear another self-deprecating Patrick anecdote come out of that pretty little mouth." Patrick gives him a small smile. "And dude, you being a giant mega nerd is my favorite thing about you, how do you not know that yet?" Wentz smiles, bright and happy and Patrick reflexively finds himself doing the same.

"Uh," Patrick hears a voice call out from behind them. A very distinctive, Pete-Wentz-sounding voice.

Shit.

Patrick pulls his hands away from Wentz and awkwardly rubs at his arms, trying to will away the oncoming blush, _get the fuck away, now is not the time, face._

"5 minutes to soundcheck, dude. If you aren't too busy, that its." and in true Pete fashion, he waggles his eyebrows at Patrick, but without most of the gusto he usually manages. Pete's expression is almost unreadable, and Patrick would say that he looked a tiny bit jealous, but why would he be? It was probably his own imagination. He tries not to think about how much of the conversation Pete heard. Oh god. Now _that_ was a disaster waiting to happen.

He feels two arms hauling him up and pushing him towards Pete. "Yup," Wentz says. "Patrick was just about to get going." He winks at Patrick and Patrick manages an exasperated smile back. He only ever smiles his exasperated smiles at Pete Wentz, he realises. When he turns his gaze back to Pete, his eyes are narrowed at Wentz. "C'mon Pete," Patrick says, which snaps Pete out of it and he turns to look at Patrick. "We're gonna be late. You know how Trohman gets when we're late." Pete nods, and the pair of them begin walking towards the main stage, Wentz walking away presumably to go find Stump. He has a tiny skip in his step that wasn't there before.

 

"So," Pete starts, after a moment too long of silence between them. Patrick swallows. Keep it cool, Stump. "The other me seemed pretty close to you, dude."

Patrick shrugs. "We were just, like, talking about stuff." He aimed for casual and got almost halfway there. Nice. Good job, Stump.

Pete abruptly stops in his tracks, and Patrick does the same a moment after. "Dude, I'm pretty sure it's considered cheating even if the dude's married to an alternate version of you. Didn't know you were into macking married dudes." Pete gives him a shit-eating grin that's just a bit too sharp. Patrick bristles.

"Firstly," Patrick grits his teeth and mentally counts to ten. Pete is being a dick and Patrick's pretty sure Pete knows it as well. Patrick ignores the _Oh god Pete saw Pete heard Pete_ knows at the back of his head. "He kissed me," Pete is glaring at the ground now, brows furrowed. "And secondly, it's technically not cheating if he's technically married to me, is it? What the fuck, dude?"

Pete's head snaps up so fast Patrick's surprised he doesn't get whiplash. "But he isn't, isn't he?" Pete swallows visibly. "He isn't-- he isn't married to you." He spits out.

"Dude, what the _fuck_ is your problem?" And okay, Patrick's furious now because this kind of unreasonable-Pete behavior is reminiscent to that of Pete before the hiatus, when he was angry and quick to hate. He shoves at Pete's chest firmly, also reminiscent of before the hiatus. "You're being a dick for no reason!" And there was nothing Patrick could've done to prepare him for what Pete said next, never in a million years.

"It's just-- I've been trying to kiss you for fucking years and suddenly this dude, who is _an alternate-fucking-version of ME_ , waltzes in and he-- he kisses you! And you don't shove him away, or whatever! I didn't even know you were into dudes, or whatever! And you just-- And I-- And fuck," he scrubs a hand down his face before his eyes snap wide open when he realizes what he just said. _"Fuck."_

What happens next is mostly a blur in Patrick's memory. His anger fades into realization that fades into surprise that fades into oh _. Oh._ Pete isn't looking at him, but to his credit he hasn't run away yet either. Patrick stares, his jaw open and his eyes wide like saucers because-- what the fuck?

What the _fuck_?

"Please say something. I can take it back if you want and we can forget this ever happened," Pete says miserably. "But it's just. I saw the other me kissing you and you went in for it and," Pete shrugs. "I thought, _maybe_." He kicks at the ground.

Patrick doesn't say anything in response, only curls his hand around the back of Pete's neck and pulls him in for a kiss. After a moment, he tries to pull away, only for Pete to grab him by his shoulders and pull him back in. Patrick feels his heart leap into his throat.

"Why didn't you say anything, dude?" Patrick says, breathing heavily. His brain is going a hundred miles a minute, an endless cascade of _holy shit Pete kissed me Pete knows Pete feels the same holy_ SHIT and he feels like he's going to keel over.

"I didn't want to y'know, fuck it up. Fuck us up. Scare you off. You know how I get sometimes, in relationships and shit." Pete grimaces. "The aftermath isn't ever pretty and I couldn't stand it if-- I wouldn't forgive myself if I'd fuck up this thing I had with you, our friendship. If you didn't feel the same way or never wanted to talk to me ever again-- I don't think I could've handled it, back then." He sighs. "Then when the band got back together, I was just so happy to have you back, dude, I didn't care if I couldn't kiss you or whatever," Pete's cheeks become a dusty shade of pink when he says 'kiss you'. Patrick is endeared as hell.

"Pete," Patrick starts, smiling softly. "There is literally nothing you can do to scare me off. I think you're forgetting that I've known you for over a decade, man. I've gotten you sorted out like a map. Eh, mostly." He ducks his head and grins sheepishly. "I feel the same way dude, I've kinda been uh, crushing on you," he cringes because what is he, 14? "Since like. 2004." He steadfastly decides not to look at Pete.

When he hears Pete giggle softly does he look up. Pete is grinning so wide Patrick is surprised his face hasn't split in two. " _Crushing?_ " Pete says, amused. "What are we, man, high school kids?" Patrick shrugs, slightly embarrassed. "But anyway, I got you beat there dude." Patrick cocks an eyebrow at Pete. "I've been _crushing_ on you since like, I first saw you, pretty much." And okay, wow. Patrick is-- Patrick wasn't expecting that. He stares.

"Aw look, it's my favorite shade of red on my favorite Patrick." Pete grins, looping his arms around Patrick's back. Patrick tries to shoot him what he hopes is an annoyed, _shut-the-hell-up-Pete_ glance, but is pretty sure he fails because of how his chest feels so full like its going to burst. Geez.

He hears Pete's phone buzz in his pocket. Pete deftly takes it out to check.

 

_**Dude, whr the hell are u and Patrick?** _

_**-Jtroh** _

 

"Oh yeah, soundcheck!" Patrick remembers, but neither of them attempt to move from their current positions.

"Fuck it. We're late anyway and I'm pretty sure I have a nice comfy bed in the bus with your name on it..." Pete trails off, smirking.

Patrick raises his eyebrows at Pete. "Peter Wentz. I know we've known each other for like 15 years, but don't expect me to put out on the first date, babe." Pete's eyes widen a tiny bit at the petname, before slinging an arm around Patrick's waist and walking them towards the buses.

"Oh, am I going to have so much fun with you." He says, and Patrick doesn't doubt it for a second.

 

 

"Pay up, Wentz." Stump says from where he and Wentz are stood behind the rows of tour buses, both watching as Pete and Patrick happily saunter off. 

"Aw, man." Wentz groans. "I thought for sure he was gonna make the first move after that."

"Told you dude, it's the same here as it is in our universe. Now hand over that $50."

"Can you at least give me some credit? I bet on a version of _you_ to make the first move, dude!"

"Yeah, and I betted on your big mouth and impulsiveness to make the first move, and I'm right." Stump says smugly.

Wentz groans again as he fishes out a crisp $50 from his wallet and hands it over to Stump.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally meant to be like, 2k words at max hahaha.. hope you enjoy it, it's the first fob fic i've posted! please lemme know if you did!!!! this was more or less a kinda a characterization practice and i do hope i'll get better at it with the fics to come. it was hard to juggle between 4 charas and i more or less failed in that aspect lol but if you guys like it enough i kinda want to continue with this series and like who knows... the pwp possibilities are endless to be honest and i still gotta give stump and wentz a proper goodbye hahaha
> 
> thanks so reading i really appreciate it my dudes!!! :-) (also sorry for the over-use of the word Dude and Man but for real every pete&patrick interview is kinda like that man. its the way it is, dude. cmon patrick, my man my dude my mandudeman)


End file.
